Rumor Patrol: ‘I Am Alive’ Lives On as an XBLA and PSN Game [Update]

The urban disaster survival game I Am Alive has remained in the shadows for quite a long time. Now it has resurfaced with new information, this time regarding the title’s change from a full retail disc release into a game available for download through Xbox Live Arcade or PlayStation Network.

Details about the game have been few and far between. What is known for sure is that the game was intended to take place during an urban disaster in the form of a massive earthquake that devastates the city of Chicago. It’s up to the player to gather resources and escape the disaster zone, in addition to avoiding other disaster-affected citizens who want to take the hero’s things for their own. It’s an interesting concept, and the original trailer from E3 2008 showed that the game was focused on players using their wits and brains rather than brute force to escape their plight.

Take a look at I Am Alive’s E3 2008 trailer:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLGuM_d-6Ok

One feature of I Am Alive that might be interesting, if kept, is the game’s purported multiplayer component. However, what may or may not be in the game at this point is entirely unknown.

The game’s original developer, Darkworks, has been removed from the project and replaced by Ubisoft Shanghai, who rebuilt the game, apparently as an XBLA/PSN title in lieu of a retail game.

I Am Alive was originally under the creative direction of Jade Raymond, who had a very large hand in the development of the original Assassin’s Creed. She has since stepped away from the project and is now purportedly working on the next Splinter Cell title.

A rumored release date window of around April 2011 has also been mentioned, but this was only speculated upon when Darkworks was still the development team behind the game.

Do you think the move from retail release to downloadable game has had any impact on I Am Alive’s game design? What sort of game do you think it will end up being?

Update: Jade Raymond has confirmed that the story regarding I Am Alive being a digitally downloaded game has no factual basis, and the official word from Ubisoft is that they have nothing official to announce at this time regarding the title. The rumor was spread via a French website called JeuxVideo and their TV show, “Warpzone.”